By David T. Elms
The calling to be a saint in the rapture generation is one of the highest privileges ever given to a mortal. Here we are, right on the very edge of eternity, surrounded by a mighty cloud of witnesses, the generation which will see the end of government by men and after Great Tribulation will usher in government by God. It is definitely the time for great saints to step forward and help their pastors lead 100% of their church into the fires of old time Revival. As important as the pastor is to the local church, he cannot do the job alone. Revival pastors would be the first to tell you that great churches are made up of great saints. People who have obeyed the preaching of the Word of God and have submitted themselves to the authority of the ministry. People that love and are willing to extend themselves for the work of God. Let me try to describe those beautiful people.
Revival Saints are those who have learned the secret of a consistent and powerful prayer life. You can find them in the prayer rooms before every service, seeking God’s anointing upon their pastor and interceding for the lost. The spirit they manifest lets you know that they stay in touch with the Lord on a daily basis. They are loyal to the church and their pastor and the work of God world-wide. They have learned the value of discipleship with times of sacrificial fastings and the discipline of the flesh to the will of the Spirit.
The Revival Saint is an active soul-winner. He is involved with the outreach ministries of the church as well as his own personal evangelism. He is a worshiper in church services and has developed a love for God and for people, that is a dominant force in his life. He is a cheerful giver and has given sacrificially many times. He has developed a real friendliness to guests of the church. He is faithful and dependable in his service to the Lord and is missing from church only as a result of his job, sickness or an emergency. When those things happen he is calling his pastor to inform him why he will not be there.
He is a student of the Bible and loves the preaching of the Word. He is a living example of Bible doctrines from the one that says, to love his enemies, to the one that says, to obey those that have rule over him. He believes that obedience is better than sacrifice. He does not try to avoid certain commandments of the New Testament but endeavors to prove his love to the Lord by obedience to every command. It is his delight to please the Lord. A life of holiness and separation from ungodly pleasures is not a burden to him, but his chief joy. He does not have a holier-than-thou
attitude toward others but one that is motivated by love. Neither does he allow his love for them to lead him to compromise his obedience to any teaching of God’s Word.
The Revival Saint has dedicated his abilities to Jesus, He is willing to change light bulbs, mow lawns, paint doors and anything else to relieve the load of his pastor. She will attend the nursery, bake cakes and offer her help in any way to the pastor and his wife, to advance God’s cause and spread His love.
He loves and gives honor to his pastor as “unto the Lord.” He realizes that his pastor stands in Christ’s stead. All he can do to help his pastor and carry some of the load, he is doing. If because of the smallness of the church, his pastor has to work on an outside job, he will sacrifice to see that as soon as possible his pastor is able to give all of his time to the work of the ministry. He pays his tithes to God for the support of the ministry and engineers his finances to the place he can give another 10% or more in offerings. He has caught hold of eternal values and because of this, God’s blessings are upon him and his family.
He does not allow the negative forces of jealousy, bitterness, envy or strife in his mind. His total attitude toward God, toward his brothers and sisters in the church and toward the lost souls is one motivated by love. He is full of faith and maintains an attitude which expresses faith and confidence in God. He is striving to be the best saint that he can be. He is looking out for the welfare of new Christians as they begin their new life in Christ. If he sees potential problems that may arise and hinder revival fires from burning, because of his love for God’s Church, he will go to his pastor and together they can seek God for the solution.
The Revival Saint has learned the joy of walking daily in the Spirit of God. The fruits of the Spirit are his daily food and the gifts of the Spirit his desire. Until the Trumpet sounds, he will continue to press for the mark of the high calling of being a saint in a Revival church in the rapture generation.
Lifting The Arms Of Your Angel
The day was hastening to a close as the battle raged on! The enemy tried to regroup for one last stand against the army of God. The sweet nectar of victory flowed through the ranks of the fighting men of Israel that day. Almighty God had visited these warriors with a super-enduement of divine strength. Their swords had driven in deep. Their arrows and spears had struck with deadly accuracy. Night was being held back by golden beams of light as they overran the last stronghold of the enemy.
What had given them the edge over their enemy? Why did God choose to visit them this day? Where had their exceptional strength come from?
Off in the distance, during the heat of the battle, a man of God had been lifting his hands heavenward. As he lowered his hands, he noticed the enemy immediately began to advance. On observing the phenomenon, he struggled to lift his arms up again. The hours wore on and his strength drained. Resting only seconds, Moses strained to the limit of his endurance, but his strength failed.
Two men rushed to his aid and set the prophet on a rock, as each grabbed an arm and held it toward the sky. They held his arms up until the battle was finished and the trumpet of victory sounded. I can hear Moses speaking to Aaron and Hur as they helped him down the mountain, “Men, my strength was gone when you came. We could not have won the battle without you!” Aaron
and Hur may not have fully realized what they had just been doing, but they had been lifting the arms of their angel.
John the Beloved wrote, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day…I saw…one like unto the Son of Man…and He had in His right hand seven stars…the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.” These angels are God’s messengers or the ministry He has given to the church. The Lord revealed the true position of the ministry in His glorious body. As Jesus sits in the place of all power, the figurative right hand of God, so, God called preachers are in the right hand of the body of Christ, the church.
From the prophets to the apostles, on to the preachers of Righteousness of the rapture generation, these men have been and are messengers (or angels), sent by God with a fresh enduement of oil from heaven. Your pastor is the angel of your church. As he ministers under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, it is as though Jesus Christ is standing behind that pulpit. Who will stand, as did Aaron and Hur, and meet the challenge of our generation by lifting the arms of their angels-their pastors?
Paul, one man God used in tremendous ways, realized his need of the prayers of others. He desired the saints to lift his arms as the spiritual battles raged. Of the Romans he pleaded, “…Strive together…in prayer to God for me.” From the Ephesians he requested, “Pray always for me that utterance may be given me. That I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery
of the Gospel.” He asked the Thessalonians to, “Pray for us that the Word may have free course.” Paul needed the prayers of the saints for the heavy anointing upon his ministry. So does your pastor!
Apostle James had just been martyred. Peter was as good as dead. His head was next to roll. Sixteen armed soldiers were ordered to guard him with their lives. The saints of the First Church gathered in a house and began bombarding heaven. Prayer was made without ceasing. God dispatched a messenger to sleeping Peter as he lay between two soldiers. As a heavenly glow lighted the prison cell, the angel hit Peter’s side, telling him to get up quickly. The chains binding him clattered to the ground. The guards slept on. Silently they walked past the first and second wards, the large iron gate opened automatically, and they were in the streets of the city.
The heavenly angel left the earthly angel. Peter made his way to the house of Mark’s mother, where the saints were still in prayer. What a sound greeted him as he stepped to the door and knocked. A frightened little voice asked who was there. He said, “It’s me, Peter.” Rhoda got so excited, she ran back to the group telling them that Peter was at the door. They informed her that she did not know what she was talking about. They knew where Peter was-in prison, surrounded by thick, high walls, locked in with iron gates and under constant guard. Peter chuckled and continued knocking. They suggested it was his angel at the door. They may not have realized it but it was their angel who was patiently knocking on the door. They had just completed one of the most famous “arm lifting operations” of all times.
We have all seen tremendous surges of divine power at different Pentecostal gatherings. Some churches have experienced continual Revival and prolonged periods of signs, wonders and miracle manifestations of the Spirit of God. These are just a sample of what God would like to give His church to reach this generation. The rumbles of judgment are getting louder as sin abounds.
I believe that just before the hammer of judgment falls, the Lord desires to pour out an end-time Revival with torrents of Holy Ghost power.
The saints of the Most High God must play a key role to bring this kind of a Revival to the earth. They must enter into a prayer ministry as never before. They must give as never before to world missions. They must support the evangelization of their own cities and countries with prayer, dedicated service and finances. They must lift the arms of their angels.
Let me emphasize that every individual Christian has a definite function to perform in the overall war against the Satanic spirits of this generation. But it is our preachers who are called on to pray the prayer of faith. They have to lift up the standards of holy living and righteousness. They must be prepared to deal with devils. They must preach to calloused hearts and move them toward God. Because of these awesome requirements, they need the fervent prayers of the saints.
Let’s pray, “Father, will you place such heavy anointing upon my pastor, that when he preaches, people will be moved with conviction and come to an altar of repentance. When he prays for the sick, let your healing virtue flow through him in such a manner that everyone will know that You healed them. Oh God, may he be endued with wisdom and power to stand against the spirits of Laodicea which seek to penetrate our hearts and homes and may You have free reign in all of the services and activities of our church. Oh Lord, charge my pastor’s ministry with the demonstration of the Spirit and power. In JESUS NAME!
We are in the final days of this generation and we don’t have much time to bring the harvest in. We must stand unified behind our ministers as they lead the advance against the dark regions of this world, bearing the light of the full Gospel.
(The above material was published by Revival Churches for the Rapture Generation by David T. Elms, 1977.)
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